The goal of this case study is for you to appraise fundamental concepts and current in-depth issues in the psychology of learning, cognition, sensation, perception, and memory linking human brain physiological responses to environmental stimulus.
Your final project will comprise an in-depth case study, in which you will interview one adult participant (between 21 – 80 years of age) with a list of 10 – 15 pre-approved questions (i.e. at least two questions relevant to each course session that you will submit for approval in Session 3).
For example, two questions from Session 4 might be:
(1) When it comes to learning new things, please describe your areas of weakness and strengths and (2) When you learn something new, please describe how you hold on to that new information.
You should design open-ended questions that require the participant to elaborate on his or her answers. This will enable you to gather information-rich data to analyze and synthesize.
The paper will comprise five sections, in addition to an introduction and conclusion, in which you will evaluate and report on the participant’s cognitive skills in each domain and propose ideas for improvements. You will gather information to construct the interview and support your project through a progression of learning in Sessions 1 – 5.
For your paper:
You will critically evaluate the participant’s cognitive development germane to the concepts you were exposed to in this course, such as sensation, perception, attention, memory, learning, knowledge, problem solving, and decision making.
You will not use the participant’s name; rather, you will use an anonymous descriiption, such as Participant 1 or P1. Thus, when you refer to the person in your paper, you will protect anonymity. For example:
Participant 1 explained that when she makes a mental grocery shopping list, she can generally recall about 75% of the items once she is at the store.
It is best to record the interview with the participant’s permission; you may use a Smartphone or other recording device. If unable to record, you may transcribe the participant’s responses.
Paper Sections:
Introduction
Evaluation